Gamer Girl

by Carmen Willow

  “Truman.”

  Eamon caught up with John. “What happened?” He demanded.

  John looked around. “Not here.”

  “My office, now.”

  An elevator came but it was going down. Eamon was going to wait, but John pulled him into the elevator and hit the hold button.

  “What the hell—“

  “Trust me, Eamon; you are going to want to go down in a minute.”

  “What happened to Sarah?” Eamon demanded.

  “She’s pregnant, she’s having a miscarriage but it’s not going well, and she’s bleeding out,” John yelled. John saw the look of shock on Eamon’s face. “She didn’t tell you?”

  “No.” Eamon just stood there, trying to take it all in.

  “Are you okay to drive?” John asked.

  Eamon nodded.

  “They’re taking her to Truman Medical Center—”

  “Truman?”

  “She’s bleeding out fast, Eamon. Truman always has a surgeon on duty,” John explained. “Look you and Nicole know the truth, but I’m going to go out there and tell everyone else that I think she has ruptured ovarian cyst that has hemorrhaged. If Sarah wants to tell them different, that’s her business.”

  “What?”

  “Ovarian cyst, Eamon. Just remember that!”

  “Okay Ovarian cyst, got it.”

  John took the elevator off hold and punched the door open button. He stepped out and hit the parking garage button.

  “I’ll take care of things here. You get to the hospital.”

  Eamon thought of something. “Tell Nicole to get her brother. He’s her emergency contact.”

  “Got it!” John said as the door closed. He walked back to where everyone was waiting. He looked around. “Where’s Nicole?” He asked.

  “She’s still in the bathroom, man. Hey what happened?” James asked.

  “I’ll explain in a minute guys. Let me see to Nicole,” John said. He walked into the ladies room and turned the corner.

  Nicole was on the floor, trying to pick things up. Her clothes were blood spattered and her hair was all askew. Her makeup was smeared. “Geeze, this mess…” She stood up and saw herself in the mirror. “I’m a mess. Look at me!”

  John took some paper towels and wet them. “Come here, Nicki.” John used the paper towels to clean her face. He studied her a moment, smiled and said, “There, that’s better.”

  “What about all this? Everyone’s stuff is ruined.”

  “The guys won’t care,” John told her.

  Nicole shook her head. “What about Sarah?”

  “She’s in trouble, but she should be okay.” John put his arm around Nicole. “Listen, did you say anything to anyone about Sarah?”

  “No. Not my business.”

  “Good. I’m going to tell the guys that I think she has an ovarian cyst that ruptured. Are you okay with that?” John asked.

  “Yeah. Nobody needs to know her private stuff. How did you know how to help her?”

  “Afghanistan. It’s what I did over there.” John looked at the door. “I need to go to Truman.”

  Nicole stopped him. “You can’t go like that, John. Wait here.”

  John looked in the mirror. His shirt was bloody. Nicole came back in.

  “Come here.” John stepped closer and Nicole whipped his t-shirt off. She pulled another one over his head. She patted his chest. “It’s a little snug, but you wear it well,” she teased. “I assume you can wash your own face, since you washed mine.”

  “Thanks, Nicki.”

  “Why do you call me Nicki, John?”

  “I’m sorry, you don’t like it?”

  “I like it. I just wondered.” Nicole left the restroom.

  John washed his face and hands and went out to talk to the rest of the crew. A little while later, he was headed to Truman Medical Center to babysit the boss.

  Chapter 27

  Eamon got to Truman’s ER in record time. At the desk he asked, “Sarah Adams. Is she here yet?”

  “What’s your name?” The woman asked.

  “Byrne, Eamon Byrne,” he told her.

  She scanned her computer and then said, “I can’t tell you anything.”

  “What the hell? Why not?”

  The woman looked at the computer once more. “You aren’t on her HIPAA list, sir.”

  “Damn it, I want to know what’s going on with Sarah!”

  “I can’t tell you anything, sir. If you don’t settle down, I will call security.”

  Eamon’s blue eyes became steel. “Listen you b—”

  John came up to Eamon and pulled him away from the desk. “Let it go, Eamon. She can’t tell you anything. It’s the law. We’re going to have to wait for her brother.”

  “Fuck this!” Eamon said. John made him start walking down the hallway.

  “Settle down Eamon or you’re going to get kicked out of hospital if you keep this up. Come on let’s get a cup of coffee.”

  They bought coffee down in the cafeteria and took it up. “Let’s go to the surgical waiting room,” John suggested. “My hunch is that they’re going to do a D&C.”

  “What?”

  “A D&C. Look, man here’s what’s happening. Sarah’s losing the baby. What’s supposed to happen is that her womb contracts and pushes everything out and tightens up to stop the blood. But for some reason her uterus can’t close down. It could be a piece of the placenta or a part of the baby…”

  “Oh God…why didn’t she tell me?”

  “I don’t know, man. Can’t tell you that. Just listen, Eamon. Listen!” When John had Eamon’s attention once more he continued. “Sarah’s uterus can’t close down and she’s hemorrhaging. So they’ll go in and clean her womb, and with luck she’ll stop bleeding.”

  “Is she going to die, John?”

  “Don’t even go there, Eamon.”

  “David Adams?” A clerk called out. “David Adams?”

  Eamon jumped up. “Yes?”

  “Your sister is out of surgery and is in recovery. They’ll take her up to a room if you want to wait there.”

  “Thanks. Which floor?”

  “Seven.”

  Eamon and John got in the elevator. “That was stupid,” John said.

  “Shut up.”

  About an hour after they reached seven, John got a text message from Nicole.

  Where are you?

  Seven

  Nicole appeared a short time later all cleaned up with a gym bag and a sack of fast food in her hand. “Thought you guys would be hungry.”

  They’d just finished eating when a tall, good-looking man with chocolate colored hair and Sarah’s eyes came into the waiting room with a carry-on. He went to the desk and spoke to the nurse. Then he turned around and came over to Eamon, John and Nicole. The guys stood up.

  “One of you Eamon Byrne?” The man asked.

  “I’m Eam—“

  The guy clocked Eamon with a left to the cheek. “You son-of-a-bitch! Ah….shit!” The pain in his hand set in and he was shaking it. But as Eamon started to stand up, he towered over him once more.

  “What in the hell did you think you were doing with my sister, you ass? And why the hell did you tell them downstairs that you were me? I had to show ID to get up here!”

  Eamon got up off the floor and shouted, “I didn’t think you’d get here so fast and they wouldn’t tell me anything!”

  “Corporate jet! Surely you have one!” David retorted hotly.

  John came between the two men. He looked at Eamon who was rubbing his cheek. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  John moved to one side.

  Eamon got eye-to-eye with David. “I’ll give you that one. I deserved it. I would have done the same. But you hit me again and we have problems.”

  David didn’t blink. Eamon was secretly impressed.

  Security came running up, but Eamon waved them off. “My fault, I wacked myself in the face with my own hand.”

&n
bsp; Satisfied that it was over, Security departed and David turned to Eamon. “I’m going down to recovery. Sarah’s still out. When she comes around, if she wants you to know anything, I’ll tell you. But that’s up to her.” David caught John’s eye. “Look, will you watch my bag?”

  “Sure.”John took the bag and started walking down the hall with David as he headed toward recovery. “Please, let us know how Sarah is doing. He’s not only one who’s worried.”

  “I will,” David promised.

  Nicole appeared with an ice bag and gave it to Eamon.

  “Thanks, Nicole.”

  “You’re welcome.” She studied Eamon’s face and smiled. “You’re going to have one hell of a bruise.” She giggled. “I gotta tell yah, that’s the best pissing contest I’ve seen in awhile.”

  “Yeah? Well, let’s hope it’s the last.”

  Nicole stared in the direction David had gone. “It is. Raging Brother was overtaken by Mr. Civilized pretty quickly. By the time you see him again, he’ll probably want to apologize.”

  “Nicole,” Eamon asked, “why didn’t she tell me?”

  Nicole shrugged. “Maybe she figured you wouldn’t want to know, Eamon.”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  John was coming toward them.

  Nicole saw him and lit up like a sparkler. “You should have seen John with Sarah today. I was totally freaked out, but he just…he was wonderful.”

  “Who, John?”

  “Yes!”

  “Wonderful? That’s a big word coming from you, Nicole,” Eamon said.

  “Well, it fits. He’s the real deal.”

  Eamon nodded his head. “Yeah, he is.”

  Recovery

  Sarah slowly came out of the void to an awareness of bright lights and odd odors. She opened her eyes, or tried to, but they were pretty heavy. When she could finally focus, she saw her brother. “Davy,” she croaked. Her throat was dry.

  “Hey little sister, you’re finally waking up.”

  “Where’s Eamon?” Sarah asked.

  “You’re still in recovery sis. He’s around. You want to see him?”

  Sarah blinked a couple of times trying to get the fog out of her head. “Yeah, I do. How am I?”

  David took her hand and squeezed. “You scared the hell out of us, but you’re fine now. Doctor tells me you’re going to make a complete recovery.”

  “You see the chart?”

  “Yeah, I saw it. You’re good.”

  Sarah was drifting down again. “’Kay.” Then she was in the void again.

  David spoke to the recovery room nurse and then went down the hall. Eamon stood up as he approached. “Sarah’s still in recovery, but she’s going to be okay. Once they did the D&C she stopped hemorrhaging. But they had to give her four frickin’ units of blood and two of them were O neg because they didn’t have time to cross-match her!” David stopped, his jaw tightening. Eamon prepared to duck. David took a deep breath and looked at Eamon again. “She wants to see you, so I’ll let them know you can hang around. Now, I’m going back into recovery to be with my sister.” He walked over to John. “Are you the guy who talked with the paramedics?”

  “Yeah, I’m John.”

  David shook his hand. “Thank you. They left a notation in the chart about what you did. It made a real difference. I appreciate it.”

  “You don’t need to thank me, doctor. Your sister’s my friend.”

  David nodded and went back down the hall.

  Sarah

  She woke up to the gray light of dawn and turned her to find Eamon sprawled on the plastic covered futon that passed for a couch. She found the controller that would raise her head up and when she was upright, she pressed the call button. The nurse came in and Sarah pressed her finger to her lips. “Could I have something to drink?” she whispered.

  “What do you want?”

  “Electrolytes.”

  “Sure thing,” the nurse said with a smile. She returned a moment later with some tomato juice, Gatorade and a plastic pitcher of ice water.

  “Thanks,” Sarah said.

  The nurse took her vitals. “You’re doing well. Breakfast will be around soon.”

  “Thanks, again.”

  Sarah took a big drink of Gatorade. Eamon sat up and Sarah got a good look at his face. “Oh my God, what happened to you?”

  “Your brother sucker punched me.” He came over to the water pitcher and drank some water.

  “Sorry,” Sarah said.

  “Don’t be. I had it coming. I’d have done the same.” Eamon tried to smile but winced a little. He sat beside her on the bed. “Sarah, why didn’t you tell me?”

  Sarah looked away to stare at the blank wall and shook her head. “I promised you no consequences, Eamon. I promised you it would be like it never happened.”

  “Damn it! Do you think I’m some sort of no account low life who would deny my own child?”

  “If I came to you and told you that I was going to have a baby, you would always wonder if I had gotten pregnant on purpose. Admit it Eamon, it’s what you would have suspected.” Sarah tried to stay calm but it was hard.

  Eamon stood up and walked to the windows. Without looking at her he asked, “So what was your plan?”

  “Wear loose tops, go home for Thanksgiving and resign. Figure out the rest of it from there.”

  Eamon whirled around. “So you were planning to run away again.”

  “Yes. Yes I was. I was running away—again because it is about the only thing I do well.” Sarah clenched her jaw to keep her chin from trembling. “I’m so stupid, I can’t even put a condom on right and then I lose my b-b-baby.”

  Eamon’s anger faded. Sarah sat there in the bed, her face paper white except for the dark circles around her sad eyes. Her hair was a spiky mess, and she was trembling. And what was he doing? He was yelling at her. He sat down beside her again and took her in his arms.

  “I lost my baby.” Sarah whispered against his shoulder.

  “It’s going to be all right, Sarah.”

  She allowed herself a moment of comfort in his arms, savoring the luxury of his attention but she’d promised, so she kissed his cheek. “You’re sweet,” she said, pushing herself away from him, “but you’re not to blame and you don’t need this.” She lay back against the pillow. “Eamon, could you go now? I’m tired and I need to sleep.”

  “Sarah?”

  She turned away from him. “I really need to sleep.”

  Eamon, confused and a little hurt stood up. “Sure. I’ll check in later.”

  When she was certain that he was gone, Sarah put her mouth against the pillow and cried herself to sleep.

  Family Reunion

  She woke up in time for lunch and was eating a healthy, if not tasty, meal when David walked into the room and gave Sarah a kiss on her cheek.

  “Hey sis, I spoke with Doctor Antoine. She’s going to keep you one more night just to be on the safe side. You should be able to leave in the morning though.”

  “What about Mom and Dad?”

  “They should be landing at MCI in about an hour. Eamon sent a limo that will bring them here and take their luggage on to Eamon’s condo.”

  “Eamon’s condo?”

  “Yeah. He invited me to stay last night and said that we all could stay there while you recuperated. Something about your apartment being too small. He’s planning to stay at the office.”

  “David, why did you hit him?”

  She watched her brother hang his head. “Wasn’t thinking. Just reacted.”

  “Wow! Can I have film on that? My perfect brother does something stupid! I wish I could have been there.”

  Sarah saw her brother’s cheek twitch. “Yeah, well if you could have been there, I wouldn’t have hit him.”

  David sat down on her bed. “So what’s with this guy, Sarah? Obviously he’s in the top one percent.”

  Sarah rolled her eyes. “I was not seduced by the wicked playboy, David. I think if you tallied
up the score, I probably seduced him. I know I had his hammer in my—“

  “Whoa! Way too much information.”

  “I’m just trying to make a point. I am not some silly seventeen year old. I’m twenty-seven, and I have sex with guys on occasion. Something went wrong with the condoms.”

  David shook his head to rid himself of the picture. “Still too much info. Don’t tell me anything else. I get it.”

  “Now if I can just get Dad to accept it.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  “David, you’re going to stay today aren’t you?”

  David saw Sarah’s anxious look, the one she wore a lot as a kid. “I’m sticking around until they release you so I can get you tucked in somewhere. I won’t leave you hanging.”

  “Thanks, Davy.”

  “Any time, sis.”

  David remained so that Sarah had support when the parents arrived. After the hugs and kisses, came the questions.

  “I tried to get information on your condition, Sarah, but the hospital wouldn’t release anything to us,” her father said as he sat down.

  “That’s because David is my emergency contact and he’s the only one who has permission to be given my medical information,” Sarah explained.

  Her mom and dad looked at one another. “Why aren’t we on that list?” her mom asked.

  “If something really bad happened to me David would be the best one to tell you about it. And if the something is only sort of bad, then I can tell you about it. David is the decision maker on my advanced directive as well.”

  “But—“

  “Look, I’m certain that David would consult you, but he knows my wishes and I can count on him not to second guess me.”

  “We’re your parents,” her father said.

  “I had a miscarriage!”

  There was dead silence in the room. Sarah swallowed and added, “I slept with someone and the condom malfunctioned and I miscarried.”

  “It was more serious than that,” her mom said.

  “Yeah, but they did an emergency D&C and everything’s okay now.”

  “Is the guy—“

  “Don’t go there, Mom. Who I sleep with is my business,” Sarah said.

  “Well if you’re getting pregnant accidentally, then is seems to me that you don’t seem to be handling your business very well. Why weren’t you on the pill?” her father said.